Archive of ‘Barnsley Community Center’ category

As you know, the TUC is organising a lobby of parliament on 2 November 2015, as part of our campaign to stop the government’s Trade Union Bill. We want MPs to hear directly from their constituents that:

·The Bill threatens the right to strike

·Employers will be able to break strikes by bringing in agency workers to cover for strikers, which could risk public safety and impact on the quality of service.

·The Bill proposes new heavy-handed restrictions on picketing and protests – striking workers will have to tell their employer all of their plans (including what they will post on Facebook or Twitter or whether they will use a loudspeaker) two weeks before they strike.

·Threatening the right to strike tilts the balance in the workplace too far towards the employers and that will mean workers can’t stand up for decent services and safety at work, or defend their jobs or pay.

Every MP should recognise that their constituents have a right to lobby them, whether or not you voted for them. You can lobby your MP either in Parliament or at the constituency surgery which most MPs will organise on a regular basis. If they don’t have regular surgeries, they will usually list a phone number on their website where you can make an appointment to see them.

I attach here information the TUC’s Trade Union Bill Briefing, which gives full information about the Bill which you can use when speaking to your MP.

Below are further links to information which I hope you will find useful:

Unite Community members put on a fantastic show defiance against the Tory’s yesterday as they joined 1000’s of industrial members to protest against the Conservative Conference. please see below a few photo’s from the day! see if you can spot yourself amongst the sea of flags and banners!

Barnsley Unite Community Activists would like to say a massive thank you to everyone at Red Tattoo and piercing in Leeds for their generous donation of £1500 towards our ESOL project link to the website here http://redtattooandpiercing.com/. Red Tattoo donated a whole days takings from their shop as well as receiving art work, gifts, cakes and donations on the day which was sold to customers both new and old! Thanks again for everybody who helped! The donation will go a long way to help provide English Classes through the Unite Learning project which the Unite activists are planning on expanding. Watch this space for more developments ……………. Photos from the day below.

On Sunday 27th September we will be having a fundraising day for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages). ESOL is run by Unite Barnsley Community Support Centre and Unite Community Branch alongside the British Red Cross as weekly drop in sessions to help refugees and Asylum Seekers learn English. In order to deliver the course they rely on donations to pay for Unite Community membership (£26 per year) and room hire costs. We hope to raise £1000+ for Unite so they can carry on running these wonderful classes!

Below is some more info about Unite Barnsley’s ESOL Sessions and it contains a very moving story from Linda,who runs the sessions.

“We started the sessions at the end of June and have 15 people every week and some days have had to turn people away as physically haven’t got the room to accommodate.

The students are from mainly from Syria, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran and the Congo. These people have all had difficult journeys in getting to Barnsley, but one couple really ‘got to me’. An elderly couple, a 71 year old Geography Professor and his Physics Lecturer wife in her 60’s from Syria. Talking to them after the class they told me how they had literally fled for their lives after seeing friends beheaded, their home and community burnt to the ground. I am not one normally lost for words but all I could do was give her a big hug. I cannot imagine my parents going through the same thing at a stage in their lives when they should be enjoying retirement and family.

With regards to the ESOL Project in Barnsley, Barnsley is one of the designated towns that the Home Office disperse Asylum Seekers and Refugees to whilst there applications are being processed. They are given a meagre allowance of £36.95 a week to buy food and toiletries, if refused asylum this goes down to £35.39.

Refugees are unable to access ESOL at the local College until they have 6 month’s residency and the course costs £ 250. As this group are only given short term residency at a designated accommodation this is not suitable or practical. The sessions that Unite are facilitating are based on everyday situations, i.e. registering with a doctor; making appointments etc., which hopefully give them a base so that even they attend just one session they will hopefully gain a little knowledge. Several of the cohort are also through Unite Community membership accessing Free I.T. courses at the Barnsley C.S.C. Their membership is sponsored via donations from Union Branches in the area.“

On the day we will have tattoo walk-ins and piercings all day as well as prints from various artists and a bake sale! Our fundraiser will start at 9.30 am and all tattoos will be done on a first come first serve basis so the earlier you come in the better!

We are also setting up a donation point in the shop for people to drop off clothing and other items to be sent to Calais!

South Yorkshire Community Members were delighted to get the chance to see Jeremy Corbyn yesterday in Sheffield and took the opportunity to distribute 100’s of our flyers urging those not in employment to organise within our Community’s. See a snap shot of Jeremy’s speech highlighted above where he talks about solving the countries housing crisis, helping people back into work and reducing the Welfare bill! sensible policy’s that reject the Madness of Austerity and paint a vision for a healthy society built on need rather than cruel and unnecessary cuts and poverty wages. Yet again 100’s of people packed the meeting and 100’s more attended the overflow Rally outside proving that Corbyn’s policy’s are attracting the attention of the massive sections of our community. Tony Blair has been attacking Corbyn yet again today talking about “Alice in Wonderland” ideas, but it seems the more Corbyn is vilified by the right the more support he attracts! see below some photos from the Rally including our fantastic banner of Course!

Busy day at the office yesterday, 15 ESOL learners in our class today, Richard Vivian gave a lengthy interview with Channel4 about the cruel and unnecessary welfare Reform and the devastating effects on our community’s, and on top of all that we had our fantastic colleagues from Unite Community Stoke on Trent visit us with David Condliffe! All in all a very good and productive day!

Recently one of our Unite Activists took part in a Tour of Barcelona to learn about, The Spanish Civil War, a pivotal event in working class history and with the defeat of the workers movement saw the rise of fascism across Europe. Below are details on how took book the tour, information and films.

“Do you want to know how the people of Barcelona lived 70 years ago at the height of the Civil War? Relive the historic events in Barcelona between 1936 and 1939 with an expert historian while you discover some of the key areas of the city.”

“We invite you to take a journey back in time and discover, with an expert guide, what everyday life was like in Barcelona for more than 30 months when Barcelona was in the rear-guard of the Spanish Civil War. The 1936 Olympic Games, the defeat of the military uprising, the libertarian revolution and the militia, the realities of daily life, the “May Riots”, Stalinism in Barcelona and the systematic bombing of the city. Using first-hand witness accounts and rigorous documentation, the guide will take you to the sights that were directly involved in the conflict. You’ll discover places that survived intact despite being under threat of shootings, lootings and bombing raids. A fascinating route through history and the streets of Barcelona which has left us such unforgettable places as the Plaça de San Felip Neri, a beautiful spot that reminds us of the harshness of the conflict where you can still see the scars of a bombing raid that took place during the Civil War. It also looks at the hopes of the libertarian revolution and the most moving accounts such as George Orwell’s brilliant Homage to Catalonia.”

Work Capability Assessments not ‘fit for purpose’ as more than 4,000 die after being found ‘fit for work’

The Department for Work Pensions’ (DWP) Work Capability Assessments aren’t fit for purpose and should be scrapped in their current form urged Britain’s largest union, Unite, as shock figures revealed more than 4,000 people died within six weeks of being found ‘fit for work’.

The figures released by Iain Duncan Smith’s department, after a freedom of information request, show that between December 2011 and February 2014 4,010 people died after being told they should find work following a Work Capability Assessment. Of that figure, 1,360 died after appealing against a ‘fit for work’ decision.

Of the 4,010 who died after being told they were ‘fit for work’, 3,720 were in receipt of Employment Support Allowance, while 290 where on either Incapacity Benefit or its replacement, Severe Disablement Allowance.

The union accused the government of going to enormous lengths and wasting tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money in legal fees to keep the figures hidden.

“It is clear that the system isn’t fit for purpose and in some instances is finding people ‘fit for work’ as they enter the final months of their lives. In its current form it is nothing more than an impersonal tick box exercise that takes no account of people’s complex medical conditions and only causes worry and distress.

“Iain Duncan Smith’s attempts to bury bad news are shameful. He needs to show some humility by scrapping the current Work Capability Assessments and ordering a review into the system’s cruel failings.

“Whether or not someone is fit for work should not be determined by private sector companies driven by profit or targets imposed by Ministers fixated on cutting the benefit bill. It should be trained NHS medical staff carrying out work capability assessments in a revised system with the need for on-going support and assistance at its core.”

ENDS

For further information please contact Unite head of media and campaigns Alex Flynn on 020 3371 2066 or 07967 665869.